Star Wars: Old Republic could reach over 1M subscribers

Next 3 to 6 months are critical for the game.

Star Wars: The Old Republic could reach over 1 million paying subscribers despite the successful rise of free-to-play titles in the market, according to market research firm DFC Intelligence.

The game "has the potential to be a successful long-term online subscription PC game... despite a general decline in high-end subscription game products and growing competition from numerous free-to-play games like Riot Games' League of Legends, War Gaming's World of Tanks, and S2 Games' Heroes of New Earth." said DFC.

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, DFC helped in tracking game usage data for the MMO during the period between its December 20, 2011 launch date and February 20, 2012, and surveyed 4000 Xfire users in January 2012. The firm now believes the BioWare title can reach over 1 million long-term paying subscribers.

"The current trend among large massively multiplayer online games is to have strong initial sales, after which users quickly lose interest and are not converted to long-term paying subscribers," stated DFC Intelligence analyst Jeremy Miller.

"While early signs are fairly positive, over the next few months the plan is to closely monitor usage and consumer reaction to gauge how well Star Wars: The Old Republic performs over time."

He added the next "three to six months" will be critical in determining whether the game can sustain its userbase.